Dear National Federations,
Welcome to the first of our new PAEC monthly newsletters, which we hope will create an increased sense of community amongst our member National Federations (NFs). In such an important year for PAEC, with our continent hosting a historic number of major events, we wanted to ensure that you’re all up to date with important topics relevant to every one of our 31 NFs, as well as share highlights from what’s going on in your country.
As we said in our happy holidays message at the end of last year, there will be a major focus on our region in 2023 with three FEI World Cup™ Finals in Omaha (USA) in April, the Central American & Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo (DOM) in June, the Pan American Games in Santiago (CHI) at the end of October, and the FEI General Assembly in Mexico in November.
All of this is a great opportunity to put the spotlight on the Americas, attract new levels of media interest that will help grow the sport in our region, and make all of you proud to be members of PAEC.
This is YOUR newsletter, so please share information with us that you think other PAEC members will be interested in. We want to know about exciting new competitions on your home turf, the big winners at your national championships and the rising stars – both human and equine. And if you have pictures that’s even better. Send it all to news@paec.info. We can’t promise to use everything, but we’ll do our best – and we need your help to do it, so make that one of your New Year’s resolutions!
Our first newsletter of 2023 features information about the FEI World Cup™ Finals, the Pan American Games and the media accreditation process, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2023 List, and links to all the new FEI Rules so that you and your athletes can familiarize yourselves with them. And a reminder about next month’s PAEC General Assembly.
FEI World Cup™ Finals, Omaha (USA)
The FEI World Cup™ Finals return to Warren Buffet’s hometown, Omaha, Nebraska from 4-8 April 2023, and this time Vaulting will be joining Jumping and Dressage at this fabulous indoor venue.
There’s so much information out there about the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final, the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final and the FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final, and one of the best ways of keeping up to date is by downloading the official event app for iPhone and Android devices. You’ll be able to check out the full schedule, buy tickets, book accommodation, learn about all the content that will be streamed, and lots of other great info.
Santiago 2023 Pan American Games (CHI)
The highlight of PAEC’s own calendar this year is of course the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games in Chile, which run from 20 October – 5 November 2023. Equestrian sports have been a part of the Pan American Games since the Pan Ams started back in 1951 in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, and have remained on the list of sports at every Games since.
Our continent’s most important multi-sport event will bring together more than 7,000 athletes from the 41 countries of the Americas to compete in 39 sports across 61 disciplines.
Santiago 2023 will be the world’s largest qualifying event for Paris 2024, with a record 33 disciplines – eight more than the previous record set by Lima 2019 – offering entries to next year’s Olympics. And that of course includes the three equestrian disciplines, so the Jumping, Eventing and Dressage will definitely attract top athletes and horses.
So how many equestrian nations can qualify for Paris at the Pan Ams?
Dressage (22-25 October): The two (2) highest ranked teams from FEI Olympic Groups D and/or E at Santiago 2023 will earn their Olympic place, excluding those nations already qualified through the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying system.
Eventing (27-29 October): The two (2) highest ranked teams from FEI Olympic Groups D and/or E at this year’s Pan Ams will book their tickets to the French capital for next year, excluding those nations that have previously qualified through the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying system.
Jumping (31 October – 3 November): The three (3) highest ranked teams from FEI Olympic Groups D and/or E at Santiago 2023 will secure Olympic qualification, excluding those nations that have previously qualified through the Paris 2024 Olympic qualifying system.
Pre-qualified: The only PAEC nation that has already earned Paris 2024 qualification in any of the three Olympic disciplines is the United States of America. Team silver at last year’s FEI Eventing World Championships in Italy, and a sixth-place finish at the FEI Dressage World Championships 2022 in Denmark means Team USA has two out of three places already booked and will be aiming to add a team Jumping slot in Santiago 2023.
Venue: The historic Chilean Army Riding School, located in San Isidro de Quillota, will be the competition venue hosting the equestrian disciplines. Over 100 years old, this is the venue where the world high jump record – which still stands – was set at 2.47 metres (8ft 1in) by Captain Alberto Larraguibel Morales and the Thoroughbred stallion Huaso in 1949.
Substantial refurbishment work is being done on the venue, which is around 90 minutes from the Chilean capital. The focus will be on the stables, the field of play and warm-up arenas, which will have an underfloor irrigation system that has already been approved by FEI footing expert Christian Bauer.
Media accreditation: Every four years, PAEC members have the opportunity to encourage their national media to sign up to see all the action live onsite at the Pan American Games so that they can see for themselves what a wonderful sport we have.
We urge all PAEC NFs that are aiming to have athletes and horses competing in Santiago 2023 to proactively advise their media about the accreditation process, which opened earlier this month. As media accreditation for the Games is run by your National Olympic Committee (NOC), media need to contact their NOC directly.
There is a separate accreditation process for media from a country that does not have athletes participating. They can contact press.accreditation@santiago2023.org.
For more information, media can also get in touch with Pan Am Sports Communications Director Alejandro Goycoolea (alejandro@panamsports.org), +56 994 081 884 and Communications Manager Kevin Nutley (knutley@panamsports.org), +1 678 262 6612.
Central American & Caribbean Games
In the build-up to the Pan Ams, the PAEC Calendar boasts another major event – the 24th Central American and Caribbean Games. A qualifier for Santiago 2023, these Games will run from 24 June to 3 July 2023 in Santo Domingo (DOM).
WADA List 2023
National Federations, Athletes and their Entourage are reminded that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) 2023 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods came into force on 1 January 2023.
The official text, including a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section, is published by WADA in English, French, Spanish, Catalan, Croatian, Danish, German, and Greek. You can check out a mobile-friendly digital edition of the List, and the FEI pages on Clean Sport for Human Athletes also has lots of important information.
The FEI is a signatory to the WADA Code, meaning that all FEI Athletes, and therefore all Athletes competing for PAEC National Federations, are bound by this Code and can be subject to in- and out of competition testing for prohibited substances. Make sure your Athletes are up to date with the WADA List.
FEI Rules & Regulations
It’s also crucial that our community keeps itself up to speed on the FEI Rules & Regulations, not just for the individual disciplines, but for Anti-Doping and Veterinary, as well as the Horse Health Requirements, which cover all the biosecurity protocols in place to protect our horses and our sport from the consequences of infectious diseases.
PAEC General Assembly
You will all have received the draft agenda for the PAEC General Assembly at Wellington International, Florida (USA) on 21 February 2023 with a start time of 11am CET. Don’t forget to let us know officially if you will be attending in-person and the number in your delegation (maximum three per NF with one vote) and, if you can’t be there on the day, please confirm if you will be joining the meeting online.
That’s all folks!
So that’s it for this first newsletter of 2023. We hope you find it useful and that you feel inspired to contribute content for future editions! We look forward to receiving it!
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